Ariel Castro Sentenced to Prison Forever, NSA Admits to Bulk Record Gathering, Medical Marijuana Legal in Illinois: P.M. Links
MugshotTo make a long, horrifying story
short, Cleveland kidnapper
Ariel Castro has been sentenced to infinite prison.- The National Security Agency has admitted it is, indeed, scooping up phone records of millions of Americans. But that power could never, ever be abused!
- Gov. Pat Quinn has signed legislation that makes Illinois the 20th state to permit medical marijuana.
- The White House and some lawmakers are upset that Russia has granted Edward Snowden temporary asylum. Probably extremely embarrassed, too.
- Murders in Mexico are down for the first time in six years, though some areas are still seeing major increases in violence.
- We all know that small town police stations are snapping up excess military equipment they really shouldn't be using. But it apparently extends to things that police have absolutely no use for, like bowling pins and French horns.
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...Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro has been sentenced to infinite prison.
He was already living in Cleveland, so I say he's suffered enough!
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Back in top form, eh Fistie?
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I was having a shit
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When Castro dies, who will be his pallbearers?
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I know this one!
NY Giants?
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Pelosi voters!
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Not until the Browns let him down one last time.
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PWNED
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We ‘have ways of making him pay’: Justin Bieber has one week to cough up $1,500 to German authorities for abandoned monkey
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Good thing he didn't abandon it in Wisconsin.
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Abandoned is fine, it's only illegal if somebody wants to rescue and care for it that you're in trouble in Wisconsin.
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I hope that settlement doesn't allow the touching of said monkey.
That is given only as a gift.
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Now is the time on Schprockets ven ve dahnce!
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Ah! The little bastard bit me!
/Jimmy Stewart
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Justin Bieber bit Jimmy Stewart?
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The National Security Agency has admitted it is, indeed, scooping up phone records of millions of Americans. But that power could never, ever be abused!
Next up: the admission that it's been abused, but not all that badly.
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Given the low probability of it uncovering an actual attack (due to the low probability of an actual attack to uncover), it seems like it can only be abused.
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If only there were some document that would restrict their ability to obtain such information without a warrant.
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I feel let down at said document's lack of precedence.
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Hey...it's just a goddamned piece of parchment.....err....paper!
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When I die I want Supreme Court Justices to be my pallbearers…
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A few isolated incidents, sure.
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This administration would never, ever dream of targeting individuals for political reasons.
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Again.
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Signs your 1st date doesn't like you
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A MANHATTAN ad executive on a first date fell 17 storeys to her death after going outside to have a cigarette on her balcony.
New York City police say Jennifer Rosoff, 35, was with a man she had been on a date with outside her corner apartment on the 17th floor in midtown Manhattan shortly before 1am on Thursday (3pm AEST) when she either leaned against or sat on the railing.
"You know, you shouldn't do that," her companion said, according to sources who spoke to dnainfo.com.
"I do it all the time," she replied moments before the railing collapsed.Directed by Richard Donner!
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Look, I'm not judging or anything, but she must have really liked him to bring him back to her apartment after a first date.
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Or she had daddy issues.
I find this to be most common. Women with daddy issues are so easy it's not even funny.
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Women with daddy issues are so easy it's not even funny.
They're like a subprime loan, you know you shouldn't but you just can't stop yourself.
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Manhattan buildings don't have "storeys".
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The medical examiner will determine a cause of death.
Just a hunch, but it might be the sudden stop.
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He could have been killed before being pushed out of the building.
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Cigarettes kill!
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Quick! Someone get some knee jerk legislation out there!
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No. Having to go outside to smoke kills.
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""I do it all the time," she replied moments before the railing collapsed."
Other lines to avoid:
"It's over!"
"I'm three days from retirement!"
"Wanna see these pictures of my fiance(e)?"
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"Hey y'all, watch this!"
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"Hey ya'll, watch this!"
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Dang, just missed -- and your apostrophe is better placed.
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ahaha, sucker.
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Do not name your boat the "Live 4ever", either.
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He being the only witness, uhm, I suppose we'll have to take his word for what happened.
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That's what I thought....it reminded me of "Get Shorty", where Tony Soprano and Vinnie Barbarino rigged the railing to kill that guy.
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'Oh, this rail? Its been lose since I got the apartment. I'm always careful to avoid it. Hey, I was thinking, we really hit it off, maybe we should move in together.'
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So as my father hands me a "road pop" and I give him the 'are you sure this is cool look', he says "What can happen to us, Tom's driving." fifteen minutes and one burnt out headlight later we're calling for a ride with fresh open container citations in our pockets.
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MENDOZAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
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+1 salmon puff.
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I never lean on railings. I bet this never happens to me.
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Nahh.....you're due for a sinkhole accident....stay out of Florida!
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"The medical examiner will determine a cause of death."
This calls for Quincy.
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But...but...NYC is one of the most regulated places on earth, especially housing, domiciles, and business establishments. Are you sure this didn't actually happen in Mississippi? Or maybe Detroit where I hear they are collapsing from lack of govenment (MSNBC)?
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The White House and some lawmakers are upset that Russia has granted Edward Snowden temporary asylum. Probably extremely embarrassed, too.
They are upset because they are embarrassed.
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The US Navy Seal who went from Chris to Kristin
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I wish her well.
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he/she/it, or as I like to abbreviate it, he shit.
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Here we go again...
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SECONDS!
Damn you to hell!
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Yeah, up to 59 seconds. A virtual eternity to fail.
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Here we go!
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I wish that human being the best life that person can possibly have.
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I suppose I do as well....but it's really hard to resist the urge to snark!
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Just remember that she still has the SEAL training when you do.
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It's cool....I'll do it from great distance! She'll have to have me droned!
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face palm
I mean, it would be great if she has a great life, pretty much the opposite of what Chaz Bono looks in every picture I have seen of him, looks miserable unfortunately, but the joke is I avoided any engendered pronouns to repeat what Tonio said.
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Why not just stick with Chris?
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Because maybe the operation isn't a total success and you become 'Pat'?
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Chicago union members picket child's funeral and shout obscenities at mourners.
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They were picketing the funeral home and disrupted more than just the kid's funeral.
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True. The additional things they did were even worse though:
The company testified in its filing that union members blocked grieving family members from leaving its parking lot, used bullhorns to shout obscenities at workers and mourners, and unleashed a German Shepard on a dead woman’s daughter and husband.
The funeral home was eventually forced to call the police when picketers allegedly disrupted a child’s funeral with laughter. The officer asked the Teamsters to leave, but protesters returned when he drove away. -
Stay classy Chicago!
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May the teamsters all come back as dung beetles next time around.
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A step up?
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Some people like Kinnath are just good people who will not be brought down to their level even in the face of evil.
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Laughter warrants calling the police, but physically preventing people from leaving and setting dogs on them doesn't? I'm confused.
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I had no idea funeral directors and hearse drivers were unionized.
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I wouldn't have thought that I could think less of the funeral industry than I already did, but here we are.
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I went to college (same frosh dorm) with Ryan Coli, this douche's son.
Ryan was nice to me, but a real union loving, I-can do no wrong-ass hole.
Ryan actually got kidnapped, beaten, and robbed when we were freshmen. He got into an unmarked red van for a ride home that was not Miami University affiliated.
Not saying he deserved it, just that he and his dad are self-important pricks.
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To make a long, horrifying story short, Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro has been sentenced to infinite prison.
30 cycles in the Phantom Zone?
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The Cube.
/Why are my submit buttons in BRIGHT GREEN
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Don't bother trying, "PREVIEW" still doesn't work.
But the buttons are pretty.
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Preview works if you don't link your name to an email account.
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No shit?
But then your name won't appear in "Reason orange", and you won't look like one of the in-crowd.
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I'm pretty sure you can post a link instead of an email address and preview works. I think it's just emails that trips up the preview button. General Butt Naked, care to comment?
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Why can't we execute this guy? I appreciate the idea that we certainly do not want to execute someone innocent, but is there any question in this case?
Some people just need killin'
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or squashing like a bug
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To save money. Trials are expensive. Executions too.
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"We"? Not my problem or my business.
The 1001 years in PMITA prison seems like an appropriate eye-for-an-eye type punishment anyway.
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Yeah, reading the article, when he said he was sorry, but noted that the 11 year olds had multiple sex partners before him and it was all consensual tells the judge and anyone else listening one sure thing:
If I ever get out, I will continue this pattern of behavior.
Note - I guess it's possible that none of his young conquests were virgins, but it's also possible they were all wearing sluttly clothes too. What a bastard.
If I had any faith at all in the government I would prefer the death penalty.
Given however the government's propensity for error and unwillingness to fix errors when found - life + 1000 seems good for this idiot.
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John Kerry says he thinks the drone strikes will end soon.
The State Department corrected the statement a couple of hours after the news conference.
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Yep, I'm thinking the drone strikes will end sometime in June or July 2016, just so that the next guy doesn't get to mess around with them.
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John Kerry is a reliable contrarian indicator...based on his prediction I expect drone strikes to fill every corner of the earth.
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Someone threw that statement back over the fence at him?
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He meant for today.
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If Jeffrey Dahmer before being caught communicated with the police to tell them "just hold on, I promise I'll stop soon" - would we be cool with that? Should the cops just let him go?
I mean honestly - how many people do they need to kill with zero oversight before it becomes the wrong thing to do?
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Now that 7 women claim they were assaulted by San Diego Mayor Filner, Politico wants you to know that it certainly isn't going to post something defending the old pervert.
Think you know @BobFilnerMayor? QUIZ yourself: How long did he spend in jail for a 1961 civil rights Freedom Ride? http://politi.co/151AdvS
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You know who else spent prison time for opposing his government before coming to power?
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Nelson Mandela?
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Megamind?
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Napolean?
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Do I win because I spelled his name right?
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no.
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Napoleon?
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Neapolitan ice cream?
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Václav Havel?
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General Zod?
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Loki?
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Ha! He just did it to pick up chicks!
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Fred Phelps was a civil rights activist too. Doesn't excuse any of his later behavior.
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"Questionsult"??
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"Questi-zinger"
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Did someone say questionsuit?
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I hate people who ask where my accent is from. How do I stop them?
I hate people who are pussies.
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I hate people who ask where my accent is from. How do I stop them?
You'd think by now people would know the reason for concealed carry permits.
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Stop talking?
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Yeah, seriously - people are naturally curious about you and your first instinct is "how can I get them to not be"?
As RC Dean noted - stop talking to people and it will end.
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"They think I'm from somewhere else, eh?"
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"I'm from Canada. They think I'm slow, eh?"
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We shouldn't tease folks aboot bein' a Canuk, eh.
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I don't want to be called mister, but my neighbour insists on it. What do I do?
Well, you *could* go from Chris to Kristin.
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Or you could get a doctorate and request to be called "Doctor".
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Or ordained and insist on "Reverend".
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Or get a Juris Doctorate and be called Scum.
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+1 law degrees
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Or you know - just nicely say "I prefer _____"
Only thing I'm sure of is that when people take the most mundane of interactions and make them a focal point of anger and victimhood is beyond my comprehension.
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Cal Ripken Jr. goes Mel Gibson, offers $100,000 to the person who helps capture the kidnappers who abducted his mother last year.
The Hall of Fame infielder made the announcement Thursday at the Sports Legends Museum next to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, a little more than a year after Vi Ripken was taken at gunpoint from her Aberdeen home and held captive for 24 hours. She was returned unharmed. No one has been arrested in the abduction.
Aberdeen police spokesman Lt. Fred Budnick says the case has no new active leads. But Cal Ripken says he hopes the reward will help re-energize the case.
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SPOILER ALERT: It was Gary Sinese.
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Ahem. Cal Ripken goes Glenn Ford.
(And there's a young Leslie Nielsen, too.)
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I am a single man nostalgic for the days before the fashion for an entirely hairless mons veneris. Am I the only man in the world who still likes a floridly sprouting bush?
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I like a little bush too. No, not BOOOOOOOSH!
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me too, dude. me too.
Winter Bush FTW!
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There's plenty of websites...
...er...nevermind.
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Am I the only man in the world who still likes a floridly sprouting bush?
Not married, eh?
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As far as looks go, I'm fine with hair or no hair. The problem with it being totally shaved is the stubble. Ouch.
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But it apparently extends to things that police have absolutely no use for, like bowling pins and French horns.
reason clearly does not understand modern police methods.
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You should all check out my latest book: "The French Horn as Interrogation Tool"
It's in its 4th printing....and now with more photos.
Special deal for the reason.com audience if you order today and use special order code "bowling pin" and I'll autograph it for you.
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Fuck it, if they want to waste their time fox hunting on tax payer dollars then I'm all for it. At least they aren't driving free tanks into people's homes.
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Ha! They're using free tanks to fox hunt!
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"Criminal serving his sentence with monks pleads to be sent back to prison... because monastery life is too hard
"A convicted criminal who was serving out his sentence in a monastery has escaped for the second time and asked to be sent back to prison because life was too tough.
"Thief David Catalano, 31, was sent to a Santa Maria degli Angeli community run by Capuchin monks in Sicily last November.
"But he found their austere lifetstyle too tough...
"A police spokesman said: 'Catalano arrived out of the blue and said there was no way he could stay on with the monks.
"'He said it was too tough and he wanted to go back to prison, so we happily obliged and he is now back behind bars serving the rest of his sentence.
"'Life with the monks can be pretty tough - there are no mod[ern] con[venience]s and they are up early and go to bed early. There are no luxuries at the hostel and the monks run a very austere regime.'"
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Oh man, we should leave all criminals in the hands of the Capuchin's. Their artwork would make an RPG barbarian cry.
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What the fucking fuck?
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The Capuchin Crypt in Rome is meant to remind us that life is short. There's a plaque that says something like "What you are now we once were; what we are now you soon will be."
I was annoyed because I learned this (the crypt was closed for renovations when I was in rome) a few months before The DaVinci Code came out and it features in the plot, so every time I brought it up people would say "oh yeah, I read the Da Vinci Code too bro"
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So... you're a Capuchin Crypt Hipster?
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A friend of mine commented that I had a hipster beard and I unthinkingly responded that I had a beard before the hipsters made them cool. I've totally given up arguing that I'm not a hipster; it's like arguing you're not a racist, at that point anything you say is going to make you look bad.
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I now know how I want to decorate my Man Cave.
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I hear Warty's rapetorium is getting overly crowded. You may be able to buy loose body parts from him for cheap. You'll have to set your orphans to work stripping the putrefying flesh from the bones and maybe leave them out to be sun bleached, but it'd still be less time consuming than hunting down that many hobos.
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Speaking of Snowden, I saw a brief bit of that dumb bitch Erin Burnett's show last night. Some administration hack/apologist was saying, "Snowden couldn't have done it on his own. Now, nobody has any evidence of any kind which could in any way implicate the Chinese in this, but I/m just going to throw it out there anyway, because TRAITOR."
It's pathetic and embarrassing to think people this stupid and unscrupulous are running the country.
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Erin Burnett can say whatever she wants, as far as I'm concerned.
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Indeed, I would happily let her spin my story
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spin my story
hehehehe
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Erin Burnett makes my pants feel funny.
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Murders in Mexico are down for the first time in six years...
Because the ATF put a stop to their supply of US firearms.
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Or they're running out of victims.
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If I were a betting man, I'd wager that Holder et al will be patting themselves on the back over this.
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But they cannot - IIRC Hillary and Holder and the President of Mexico all blamed the murder rate in Mexico on US gun laws.
As if there are gun stores in the US readily selling RPGs, fully automatic tactic rifles, and grenades...
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Why are some straight men attracted to other men?
Availability/opportunity: These straight men have high sex drives and are sexually aroused easily. They connect with men for physical sexual release, which can be quick and easy and allows them avoid having to emotionally engage.
Father hunger: These are heterosexual men who crave affection and attention from their fathers and seek sex with men as a way of getting that male nurturance and acceptance.
Sexual orientation toward men but emotional/romantic orientation toward women: These are men who are romantically attracted to women and are usually partnered with women. They can be sexual with women they love, but they are predominately aroused and driven sexually by desire for sex with other men.
Narcissism: These are straight men who are self-absorbed and have a constant need for attention and acceptance; they use sexuality with men to be worshipped and adored.I'll let certain commentators sort this out for themselves.
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Why are some straight men attracted to other men?
Speaking only for myself, there's just something about Jesse's eyes.
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Why are some straight men attracted to other men?
Because they are gay? Seriously, how the fuck does this work? I am just attracted to some men so that is totally not gay? SLD
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I could see doing it with a guy just for the experience (I imagine it would be a lot of fun) but I've never been attracted to a man. I don't consider myself gay. Women turn me right the hell on. Guys are generally not shaped right and too hairy for my tastes.
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Because human sexuality isn't a strict binary gay/straight system - its a continuum and affected by more than the orientation you're born with.
Hell, people screw *animals* so its not surprising that a mostly straight person might go take a stroll on the wild side. Especially is easy sex is available.
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Speaking only for myself, there's just something about Jesse's eyes.
And this is why I never wear sunglasses.
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Why are some straight men attracted to other men?
There's just something about Epi.
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A Middle School In Queens Banned A Book That Parents Called 'Fifty Shades Of Grey For Kids'
..."The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" is controversial for its portrayal of masturbation, and includes passages such as, "If there were a Professional Masturbators League, I'd get drafted number one and make millions of dollars."One PS 114 parent told the Daily News, "It's about . . . masturbation — which is not appropriate for my child to learn at 11 ... It was like 'Fifty Shades of Grey' for kids."...
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'd get drafted number one and make millions of dollars.
And sell out MSG?
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I just want to know when SF started doing kiddie lit.
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Time for your sponge bath!
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What is the appropriate age to learn about masturbation? And how does the parent know that their child isn't already?
Oh, wait, because their child is a special snowflake who will never, ever touch their own or someone else's genitals.
It seems like a lot of parents just can't deal with the fact that their little innocent kids are going to be sexual beings, like "LALALAL NOT LISTENING" not dealing.
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Um, if kids need a *book* to learn about masturbation they they're just too weird be jacking it.
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And what happens then, Eduard?
Warty. NutraSweet. STEVE SMITH.
Reading is fundamental.
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Look, that also involved beating, verbal abuse, and public humiliation heaped on these poor children. In fact we're lucky they *only* turned into rape machines - they could have been serial killers.
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...which can be quick and easy and allows them avoid having to emotionally engage.
That does sound nice...
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But you have to either not care that it's a man, or strongly pretend otherwise for a few minutes.
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Any other tips?
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Close your eyes. Can you tell whether those are male or female lips and a tongue giving you that blowjob?
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I should point out I've never tried having a random person give me a blowjob and guess whether it's a man or a woman.
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lips and tongue no but I could tell whether it was a man or a woman's hands in most cases I bet
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I find the beard usually gives it away. I suppose if you're rolling out with a femme twink or something you could avoid that tell.
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I could imagine chin stubble and/or beard/stache contributing to a different experience.
Also, man hands are definitely a turnoff for most straight men.
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Meh. Human sexuality is hugely varied. There is also a tendency to pigeonhole people into categories such as gay or straight when a continuum of attraction is probably more accurate.
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^^^ Agreed. I also think that the armchair psychology nonsense in that article is just terrible. Especially this part:
Father hunger: These are heterosexual men who crave affection and attention from their fathers and seek sex with men as a way of getting that male nurturance and acceptance.
I want attention from dad, so I go out and fuck my surrogate dads.
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Yeah, that's some grade A stupid.
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Yeah, my dad died when I was 7.
I haven't ever been attracted to another man, ever. NTTAWWT
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I want attention from dad, so I go out and fuck my surrogate dads.
Do you also dismiss the notion, often repeated here with varying levels of seriousness, that slutty women have daddy issues?
Think Sydney Leathers.
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Do you also dismiss the notion, often repeated here with varying levels of seriousness, that slutty women have daddy issues?
Think Sydney Leathers.I think there's a difference between being attracted to one gender and sleeping with members of that same gender as a sort of validation, and being a heterosexual that engages in gay sex because of daddy issues. One of those two requires you to totally switch who you are normally attracted to. I think it's more likely that a straight man with daddy issues would have sex with lots of women for validation than that he'd switch genders.
Personally I think that straight men who are attracted to other men just aren't actually straight. There are people who are attracted to both men and women. That strikes me as more likely than the armchair psychology nonsense from that article.
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It makes more sense if you use the Kinsey scale.
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The made up scale, with falsified research?
Not saying sexuality isn't a continuum, but hasn't all of Kinsey's work been mostly dismissed as crap?
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Horrible sampling bias in the initial experiments, but the basic idea of sexuality as being considerably more nuanced than gay/straight has held up quite well.
These days it's two independent scales though. One for attraction to men and one for attraction to women.
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I actually admire the author, who has resisted PC outrage from some gay rights folk.
In particular he acknowledges that sexual abuse as a child can, in fact, lead to a heterosexual person engaging in homosexual behavior as an adult.
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They're not.
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"Why are some straight men attracted to other men?"
They aren't .
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Um, how about they are not actually attracted to the men involved but find the acts pleasurable and have a high enough sex drive to not need to be particularly attracted to the person they are engaging in them with
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Sexual orientation toward men but emotional/romantic orientation toward women: These are men who are romantically attracted to women and are usually partnered with women. They can be sexual with women they love, but they are predominately aroused and driven sexually by desire for sex with other men.
Haha, totally ended up in a relationship with someone who was the reverse of that. It went on for way too long, but the emotional component was great while the sexual component was decidedly lacking. He was a great cuddler though.
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"To make a long, horrifying story short, Cleveland kidnapper Ariel Castro has been sentenced to infinite prison."
Life + 1,000 years =!= Infinity
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Yeah, if the singularity really does arrive, he'll be scott free before you know it.
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Subjectively, the rest of your life is an infinite duration. We can't experience or even properly visualize infinity.
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We can properly visualize not infinity, though.
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What I'd like to know is: Who's monitoring the American junk mail traffic? It's entirely possible that terrorists communicate via coded junk mail.
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Junk mail like Weiner's?
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Maybe. I was thinking more along the lines of the Harriet Carter catalog.
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Hammacher Schlemmer
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Exactly. "Offering the unexpected", indeed.
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Where do you think the Bostom Bombers got their pressure cooker?
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My personal favorite...."Fingerhut". I mean really.....what were they thinking?
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Fingerhut is the new Al Qaeda number two…
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Cleveland Auditing Fire Department
..pall bearers....let down... -
THEY'VE SUFFERED ENOUGH.
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Did IRS Help Other Agencies Target Conservatives?
...Email exchanges between Lois Lerner, the Democrat at the center of the probe into abuses at the IRS, and a lawyer at the Federal Elections Commission show Lerner and the lawyer teaming up to try to block a conservative group from winning a case before the commission.The pixel trail obtained by the House Ways and Means Committee leaves a strong suggestion that Lerner passed confidential information to the lawyer in a bid to squeeze a Minnesota conservative group under fire from state Democrats. The way it’s supposed to work is that the commission doesn’t investigate until its members find probable cause, but here we have a still-unnamed attorney doing a stealth investigation with Lerner’s help in an apparent bid to sway commissioners ahead of their vote.
The chances for collusion are helped by the fact that prior to coming to the IRS, Lerner was the longtime head of the elections board’s enforcement office. That’s where she first earned the ire of conservatives for targeting religious groups, especially the demand from her office to know about the content of prayers tendered for the sake of Lt. Col. Oliver North....
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C'mon, haven't you heard yet this is a "fake scandal," there's nothing there, it's a delusion of Faux News, etc....
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Why it's so hard to check your privilege
Privilege is a systematic structure that grants unearned advantage to a select few on the basis of their identity. Peggy McIntosh describes privilege as an “invisible package… of special provisions” — invisible because while we may not always be aware of our privilege, we do in fact benefit from it. Because identity is varied, privilege comes in many different forms (i.e. white privilege, Christian privilege, heteronormative privilege, and even American privilege.) No matter how much we deny it, we all consciously and unconsciously benefit from our identities.
[...]
To deny is to refuse to admit a painful truth. The function of denial is to always protect the ego. As much as denial and privilege can be unconscious, they can also be very much conscious. One can be aware of one’s privilege, but deny it in order to protect one’s ego and avoid the responsibilities that come with the acknowledgement. Perhaps the denial of privilege in the cases mentioned above has nothing to do with ignorance, but is a way for people to defend their privilege, to avoid having to give it up. -
So to those white men who aren’t followed by police in their neighborhoods, or who can ride in an elevator with a white woman without seeing her clutch her purse; to the black man who can walk down the street without being sexually harassed by his male peers and who is taken more seriously than black women when he speaks or when he is in position of leadership; to the heterosexuals who are free to walk down the street holding their partner’s hand without the threat of violence: I have a message for every one of you who are intentionally in denial about your privilege.
Equity has never hurt anybody. Seeing each other as the same and helping another rise to the one’s level has never caused the downfall of any nation or empire. Rather, it was always ego and denial that destroyed great civilizations. You will not only hurt others when you refuse to acknowledge and give up your privilege, but you will contribute to the downfall of the nation in which you so “magically” benefit from it.
This isn't going away, is it?
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Seriously ASM, you are my Oprah
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deny it in order to protect one’s ego and avoid the responsibilities that come with the acknowledgement.
WTF?
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I can't even read this stuff anymore much less make sense of it. It's just words on a screen at this point.
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What responsibilities? How exactly does one "check his privilege"?
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"How exactly does one "check his privilege"?"
By sending bribes to the various members of the grievance industry.
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I keep wondering why these people keep pointing this out, regardless of the truth or degree, because what the fuck is anybody supposed to do about it? Am I supposed to get into an elevator and tell the old ladies "clutch your purses! It's not fair that I'm not dressed as a gangsta and don't have tattoos, you need to be afraid of me too!"
Or, as Art V. says, are we just supposed to keep giving money to everybody who isn't a straight white male, because everyone else in the world doesn't have the privilege? (BTW tell that to my old college roommate, with a JD and an MBA, who's been out of work for two years and has pretty much been told as a 50+ white male he is pretty much unemployable. Nice privilege.)
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are we just supposed to keep giving money to everybody who isn't a straight white male
Bingo.
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It's just another take on socialism, because apparently there's no greater good than handicapping everyone to the lowest common denominator. In this instance the thing they want is intangible, so they can't just take it. Next best option: give me your money.
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How exactly does one "check his privilege"?
Blackface is probably a good start.
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But that's racist, too! It's racists all the way down.
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How else are we supposed to walk a mile in their shoes?
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To quote a famous man...
*barf*
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Equity has never hurt anybody
Except that human beings are not equal. As much as I wish I were Kevin Durant's equal, I can't dunk, and I never will be his equal. I also will never have the intellect of Thomas Sowell, so we can't be equal.
Equality under law is exactly the opposite of what this person describes. Instead of treating everyone equally under Law, he wants to treat some people more "equally" than others, based upon their membership in different collectives. That turd probably doesn't even know that the only way to achieve what he proposes is to keep the Trees all equal, by hatchet, axe, and saw.
Fuck it, I have to go check the mail and see if my white guy bonus check has showed up this week.
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She, Marshall, she's a professor and philosopher.
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Oh, a bullshit artist! //Mel Brooks
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Did you bullshit today?
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No.
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How does one give up their privilege? What utter shit.
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Clearly someone has never seen Soul Man.
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But that would be racist!!!
(according to some commenters here. Still waiting on a definition that encompasses it)
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I think you are referring to our discussion of 'race themed parties' on college campuses where attendees 'dressed and acted like racial caricatures and stereotypes,' including blackface.
If so let me give you the definition you seek: it is the basic common sense definition of racism, the belief that race is the primary determinant of human behavior and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of some races and inferiority of others (this is from Merriam-Webster online).
To the extent that racial stereotypes and caricatures are negative then they fall comfortably under that definition. Blackface has a long history of being use in such a way and was certainly being so used in the photos of these parties that I and others posted yesterday.
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it is the basic common sense definition of racism, the belief that race is the primary determinant of human behavior and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of some races and inferiority of others (this is from Merriam-Webster online).
And how does me wearing a long white T-shirt and my pants low while drinking 40s at a theme party have anything to do with that?
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Perhaps because they are negative racial stereotypes and caricatures?
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What does that have to do with this:
the belief that race is the primary determinant of human behavior and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of some races and inferiority of others
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Because negative stereotypes and caricatures are one way of expressing the belief that race is the primary determinant of human behavior and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of some races and inferiority of others.
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What you're saying is that, by costuming yourself as a member of another culture or subculture, you're being racist. Simply because some racists do that as well?
They also drink water and watch TV. Bet they think racist thoughts while doing those things as well. I guess drinking water and watching TV is racist.
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Perhaps because they are negative racial stereotypes and caricatures?
Only if you perceive them to be. Perhaps it is you who are the racist if you see something like that and think negative thoughts about minorities.
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Are you denying that there is not a long history of these things in explicitly racist settings and contemporary subcultures that acknowledge they are racist that engage in them? Then to say that they are 'only racist' if you perceive them to be is a bit daft, with all due respect.
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Some of us believe anything is worthy of being made fun of or creating a joke out of.
As George Carlin once said (paraphrased)
"I get that shit all the time. You can't joke about this or that. Like rape. You can't joke about rape. Bullshit! Imagine Porky the Pig raping ELmer Fudd. That shit's funny!"
But yeah, to their point - making light of stereotypes at a theme party does not automatically mean you think less of that race or any individual you know.
I mean seriously - you have to have at least one relationship that is long term enough that you are able to make fun of them for their eccentricities (which we all have) without it also meaning you hate them as a person.
Why is this any different? People are going to have to start recognizing that some of us didn't grow up in a time or place where racism was rampant and we were taught things like "racism is stupid".
So no - some of us don't see the issue you're desperately trying to find.
Note - I personally wouldn't dress in any stereotypical fashion, but I don't like playing dressup... not even for Halloween.
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Every one of the examples listed is not a privilege, per se. It's not a privilege to not be harassed or not be discriminated against. That's normal.
I can only conclude that they've gotten about as much traction as they'll ever get on those problems, so they've gone on to blaming people who aren't frequently subject to harassment or discrimination as somehow being the problem.
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The lack of self awareness here is astounding.
The central flaw to this concept of privlege is that EVERYONE is privleged in some contexts and disadvantaged in others. Sure if you try to weigh the privlege/disadvantage matrix for various individuals some may be making out better than others but that doesn't discount the fact that black men have situations where they have the privlege over a white woman.
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Good point - during a recession in the early 90s they showed a guy with a Harvard degree working at a pest control company.
The other employees didn't care about his degree nor did they think it made him better - in fact, they made fun of him for it constantly.
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"i"Equity has never hurt anybody. "
Tell that to Harrison Bergeron
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I like when they don't bother proving that something is true, and simply claim that anyone who doesn't acknowledge that it is self-evidently true must do so because they are evil.
It almost sounds like a religion. That can't be true though, since I am often assured that the left is reality based.
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Ding, ding, ding. Folks, we have a winner.
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That social justice crap is definitely a cult. Part of brainwashing is to break down a person's self-identity and ego.
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I'm never quite sure what people are getting at when they talk about 'white or male privilege.' If what they are getting at is that every white person or male gets a check mailed secretly to them from some White Men's Fund or that white males don't often struggle with poverty or police harassment or what have you then of course it's uncommonly silly stuff.
But if all it means is that negative stereotypes about blacks and women are more prevalent than ones about whites and men and that those negative stereotypes can make life difficult, then sure that strikes me as true.
But why do they think this is the case? They miss the obvious answer. Government. It was not markets but governments that protected slavery and enforced slave codes. It was not markets but governments which enforced Jim Crow. It was not markets but governments that denied women certain occupational licenses and property rights. Market forces acted against all that. Government made it hard for blacks and women to succeed. And so of course stereotypes and cultures of dependency and such developed. But it was the government that did it. And the government makes it worse today with things like affirmative action which perpetuate these same stereotypes and cultures.
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But why do they think this is the case? They miss the obvious answer. Government.
I don't necessarily agree. I just don't think it's possible to create a situation in which there is no stereotyping or unfair treatment of certain groups.
The problem I have with the left and with their 'white privilege' and 'social justice' nonsense is that they don't actually argue in favor of equality. They argue in favor of the replacement of current stereotypes and current racism with new types of stereotypes and racism.
If they said 'racism is bad, therefore we should make absolutely sure that everyone is treated equally under the law' I would wholeheartedly agree. But what they're actually saying is 'racism is bad, therefore certain 'aggrieved' groups should be treated differently under the law in order to make up for it.'
Their entire argument is contrary to the rule of law and is asking for a sort of legalistic anarchy. This is why they wanted Zimmerman lynched from the nearest tree despite the fact that any rational legal system would have to find him innocent. It's because they don't want a rational legal system. They want a corrupt, degraded petri dish in which to test their pet, unproven racial theories.
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They want a corrupt, degraded petri dish in which to test their pet, unproven racial theories.
They'd never get it out of beta.
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I feel a need to preface this with the statement that I have not lived in the US for about 20 years and if it was not for the internet I would be all but clueless about this whole "privilege" issue.
Seems to me that maybe it is time to start defining the other "privileges".
"black male privilege - being impervious to the charge of racism, any lack in personal accomplishment is merely evidence that the system is wrong, ...
"female privilege" - allowed to make irrational, emotional outbursts without consequence, allowed to sidestep logic with some mumblings about feelings and special circumstabces, ...
I supose there can be a number of others but I am (happily) too out of touch to define them well.
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This:
I just don't think it's possible to create a situation in which there is no stereotyping or unfair treatment of certain groups.
Is completely true - humans as a basic part of life, have to categorize things in order to analyze them at all. We simply do not have the capacity to analyze all situations to the very smallest detail.
Due to this standard human behavior, if you've had strong negative interactions with ... say the cops, or white men, or black girls, or whatever... but if you had several negative interactions with one group - you will probably view that group negatively by default.
Smart humans will try to stop themselves and in some cases can overcome it - but it's never going away.
It's the way the brain processes information.
But as discussed before, this shouldn't be surprising - the non-religious left still requires religious thinking - including original sin.
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Equity has never hurt anybody. Seeing each other as the same and helping another rise to the one’s level has never caused the downfall of any nation or empire.
Wasn't that equity horseshit ostensibly what communism was all about? So yes, a mindless drive towards equality has destroyed nations and empires.
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Equity has never hurt anybody
Except, of course, the 100 million killed by Stalin and Mao.
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Thomas Jefferson - "There is nothing more unequal than the equal treatment of unequal people."
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What they are talking about as equity also hurts blacks and women. Special handouts for these groups incentivize cultures of dependency that keep large portions of both populations in chronic poverty. Affirmative action and non-discrimination laws further the stereotype that these groups cannot 'cut it' and are only where they are by the grace of the law. Etcetera.
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Equity has never hurt anybody.
Level your compensation with your TAs and tell us how it doesn't hurt, sweetie.
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Fucking twilight zone edition of PM Links: Everyone's double posting each other within a minute.
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it's the new submit button
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We've all been synchronizing our thoughts for the past six months. The process is nearly complete.
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Noooooooooooo!!!!!!!
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We've all been synchronizing our thoughts for the past six months. The process is nearly complete.
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The stupid in these comments is astounding.
A sample:
disqus_lWwzrwNaw6 • 2 hours ago −
Going back to Saint Reagan, we've endured 30 years of systematic right-wing attacks on public education; 30 years of school defunding based on a propaganda campaign rife with phony statistics and bogus analyses; 30 years of using lies and smears to persuade right-wing voters--those legions of gormless whingers in their barca-loungers--to ridicule and marginalize public school teachers as "union hacks" and to deride public schools as "government schools;" 30 years of undermining and bringing down a public education system that was once the envy of the civilized world.
Wow. It turns out that it wasn't just about dumbing down America and eradicating progressive thought and discourse from the public arena, although it was sure enough about those things too (see the track records of Mitch Daniels, John Kasich, Scott Walker, and other GOP promoters of what the Kochs call "the freedom agenda" who routinely use their power to chill and intimidate public education in their respective states).
...And no one disputes a single statement in that, despite having dozens of replies.
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He also offers no evidence of any of his points. Argument by assertion is all the left has. There is not one scrap of evidence in that nonsense.
It's just like the post up above about privilege. They say that what they believe is true without proving it and are then shocked that people don't find their base, idiotic assertions to be enough evidence.
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Yeah, with all that school defunding adding up for 30 years, why is per pupil spending so much higher than it used to be?
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^This
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Facts don't matter. Only feelings.
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...to ridicule and marginalize public school teachers as "union hacks" and to deride public schools as "government schools
Only a portion of public school teachers are union hacks, but all public schools are government schools.
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It's not ridicule if it's true....
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Suggested reply:
Dept of Ed's budget went from $14B in 1980 to $68B in 2012 with a layover at $98B in 2009 and fuck off.
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a public education system that was once the envy of the civilized world.
This is bullshit. I'm pretty sure attacks on the US public education system are as old as the US public Education system itseld.
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disqus_lWwzrwNaw6 • 2 hours ago −
Going back to Saint Reagan, we've endured 30 years of systematic right-wing attacks on public education; 30 years of school defunding based on a propaganda campaign rife with phony statistics and bogus analyses; 30 years of using lies and smears to persuade right-wing voters--those legions of gormless whingers in their barca-loungers--to ridicule and marginalize public school teachers as "union hacks" and to deride public schools as "government schools;" 30 years of undermining and bringing down a public education system that was once the envy of the civilized world.Wow. It turns out that it wasn't just about dumbing down America and eradicating progressive thought and discourse from the public arena, although it was sure enough about those things too (see the track records of Mitch Daniels, John Kasich, Scott Walker, and other GOP promoters of what the Kochs call "the freedom agenda" who routinely use their power to chill and intimidate public education in their respective states).
Uh oh....sounds like somebody didn't get tenure!
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eradicating progressive thought and discourse from the public arena
....um....yea....
If only.
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No, I want it to stay around so it's adherent's can be used as examples and object lessons.
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I'll just leave this here.
The best part is the HUGE overcharging:
Fulton County Magistrate Judge Karen Smith Woodson found probable cause on Wednesday to charge Danielle Parker with malice murder, aggravated assault, felony murder and possession of a gun during the commission of a felony in connection with Crystal Parker’s shooting death.Can anyone guess why Danielle is getting the book thrown at her for killing her estranged wife?
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Because she used a gun?
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Because...she's...a witch?
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Because the estranged wife is a cop?
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Ding, ding ding!!
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Or even a police dog, if the wife was ugly.
(This is why there are no female libertarians....)
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Because she's a violent lesbian?
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Trademark infringement you otherer......"Violent Lesbian" is my band name!
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She spurned Judge Woodson's advances?
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Shackford's needless condescension seems to be catching on in the gay blogosphere. (Both links may have work unfriendly ads)
(Everyone check for goatees we're entering an alternate universe)
Joe. My. God. linked to it saying "The entire essay is worth your time."
Commenters were generally supportive of the point being made and called out critics on their bullshit. Favorite:
Rephrased: If you dont have an idea better than my bad idea then my idea becomes good by default.
Nope.The commenters at Towleroad continue their slide into thinking this is a dumb boycott with comments like:
God we can be embarrassing sometimes. It doesn't seem to matter that Stoli has uneqivocally voiced support for LGBTs, nevermind that they are not a Russian company. Now we are scouring their website looking for things to be upset about.."there's no rainbow flag on the employee bathroom!". Nevermind there are actual Russian based companies we can target. At this point, we are just trying to justify the fact that our "leaders" (sarcasm) didn't do their due diligence. It makes us look unorganized and silly.
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Top comment, from "John T"
Reason is a libertarian magazine. When libertarians have to choose between the liberties of individuals and the freedom of billionaires to maximize their wealth, they will rush to the defense of the billionaires every single time.
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Isn't that what he did by voting for Obama?
It's a small miracle that "John" can tie his shoes in the morning without getting his thumbs caught every time.
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I was going to request a citation for proof that he doesn't - but then figured it is either because of velcro or flip-flops.
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When libertarians have to choose between the liberties of individuals and the freedom of billionaires to maximize their wealth,
Aside from crony rent-seeking, I'm not seeing any distinction between the liberty of an individual, and the freedom of individuals to maximize their wealth.
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True, but what if everyone judged us by our first-commenter-in-chief FoE? Also someone comes in to defend Shackford's thesis in the JMG comments (which is why I told everyone to check for a goatee):
Having read an article on Putin's history this week, there is something to this, in how we assume that billionaires there are as safe as billionaires here. It is not a case of losing business, but in Russia you can be imprisoned for even criticizing Putin -- Mikhail Khodorkovsky was THE wealthiest man in Russia, and insulted Putin on TV. He was sentenced to nine years on trumped up charges in 2005. His company was nationalized and Putin cronies put in charge. His sentence was recently extended to 2017. I know it's hard to feel empathy for a billionaire, but 12 years in a gulag is a big disincentive for Schleffer. [emphasis jesse's]
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True, but what if everyone judged us by our first-commenter-in-chief FoE?
Oh, shit! They'd hunt us all down to the last!
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I wasn't trying to make a point, I was just posting a stupid comment.
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Oh, I figured. The last time I posted quotes from a comments section things went pear-shaped fast so I figured I'd focus on the surprising amount of agreement floating around in the comments section rather than the pedestrian negative ones.
I don't think I can convey how surprised I am that JMG linked to a Reason article (particularly with the endorsement of "the entire article is worth your time").
MIND. BLOWN.
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I know it's hard to feel empathy for a billionaire
Umm... no it's not. Maybe the commenter just needs to really contemplate what life in a gulag is like... read some books for f**k's sake and find out what's it like.
Then it becomes very easy to feel sorry for anyone imprisoned in one these hell holes all for what they said.
Rich or poor - doesn't matter - they all deserve sympathy for being cruelly punished for speech.
Assuming of course you believe in free speech... which these days may not be a good assumption even if the author is a natural born US citizen...
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Mate, that's the point of the guy's comment. He's snarking the original commenter's lack of empathy and stupidity for not realizing how harsh he political climate is in Russia.
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More unsupported bullshit than you can shake a stick at:
Significantly, though, she had recognised that an anti-feminist backlash occurs not when women have achieved equality but when there is any possibility that we might. It’s “a pre-emptive strike” and here, I would say, it’s been going on for the past five years. This is a strange time to be talking of backlashes when we have just seen several successful feminist campaigns, but we need to understand the scale of what is happening. I am glad there is a woman’s face on the money. But can we have more actual money? Equal pay?
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"But can we have more actual money? Equal pay?"
You already do. Learn statistics.
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Significantly, though, she had recognised that an anti-feminist backlash occurs not when women have achieved equality but when there is any possibility that we might.
This is a stupid statement for multiple reasons - number one is I don't know anyone actively trying to stop women from working...
However, she is correct in a general sense in that groups do use pre-emptive strikes when they are scared of losing their power to other.
Like how feminists claim all white men need to either admit their privileged lives and circumstances or be deemed misogynists/racists.
Or - the good news - how the number of articles claiming libertarianism is this or that - defending the rich or whatever - even though we still represent something like .001% of the voters .01% of the population as a whole.
But given Paul's increasing popularity - they are scared.
You know this because when the weak are scared - they attack first.
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30 years of school defunding based on a propaganda campaign rife with phony statistics and bogus analyses
When did that happen? I totally missed it.
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Ariel isn't the only Castro who ought to get a 1,000 year sentence.
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Plain white T-Shirts make guys more attractive to women
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Statisticians: Banning guns might lower homicide rates
Nonprofit, international, peer-reviewed, open-access, online publication PLOS One this week published "Dependence of the Firearm-Related Homicide Rate on Gun Availability: A Mathematical Analysis," and scrolling through it makes my head hurt. No one said there would be math with this job.
With the caveat "Limited data available in the literature were used to demonstrate how the model can be parameterized," the mathing couple found "this preliminary analysis suggests that a ban of private firearm possession, or possibly a partial reduction in gun availability, might lower the rate of firearm-induced homicides."
What the what now? Sounds like we need another caveat.
"This, however, should not be seen as a policy recommendation, due to the limited data available to inform and parameterize the model. However, the model clearly defines what needs to be measured, and provides a basis for a scientific discussion about assumptions and data."
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There's also a third caveat: banning firearms had very little to do with gun availability.
The data is out there, but there's little to cherrypick from.
Better wait for more data...
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Semantic obfuscation clarified:
this preliminary analysis suggests that a ban of private firearm possession, or possibly a partial reduction in gun availability, might or might notlower the rate of firearm-induced homicides.
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Also note reports like this don't research any good aspects of gun ownership, which is a requirement if one wants to produce studies in order to effect policy.
With their logic - I could easily describe a world without automobiles and all the lives it would save.
But again - doing only that would mean that I'm assuming there are no good aspects to owning and using cars...
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Plain white T-Shirts make guys more attractive to women
Especially if there's a pack of unfiltered Lucky Strikes rolled up in one of the sleeves, right?
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My siblings and I just called him dad --
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"Though not the best film out there, The Smurfs 2 has more than enough Smurf-essence to entertain viewers of all ages."
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A slight rant:
Mrs. RBS has been tasked with helping throw my cousin a wedding shower. Knowing that we really have no disposable income right now the head party planner, on instructions from my cousin, told my wife to provide all the champagne for the champagne bar, all the mixers/fruit and provide all of the glasses. Since she's a lot nicer than I am she agreed. This pisses me off for several reasons: 1) We can't afford this bullshit right now. 2) This cousin is also not in a position to afford this party or the wedding she wants and is letting my stepdad pay for most of it. 3) I have to babysit a bunch of fucking children the day of the party.
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Who is the "head party planner"? I've never heard of that for wedding parties--it's usually the best man or maid of honor, isn't it? And that's usually the person expected to pony up for a lot of the pre-wedding entertainment, unless they get others to go in on it.
Your wife should ask the other shower participants to chip in for the refreshments. No way it should all be on her.
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Heh.
I am burned out on weddings. My son's was the last one I will attend. That was this past June in Destin, Fla.Since then I have bullshitted my way out of two others and last night my wife's cousin called begging us to attend another. She held the phone and asked me if we should go. " Not gonna happen".
Wife got back on the phone and said " when did you say that was? Well darn I hate that we will be out of town. We will send a gift."I hate weddings.
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told my wife to provide all the champagne for the champagne bar, all the mixers/fruit and provide all of the glasses.
"No."
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Why is there a need for a champagne bar at a flamin' wedding shower?? When I got married, my wife's aunt threw her a shower which did not include a champagne bar, or champagne at all. And this aunt is a stickler for protocol and etiquette and has lots of disposable income.
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Is it just me or does Castro look like a mix between the guy who plays Gale on Breaking Bad and the guy who plays Bobby on Sons of Anarchy?
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It was just you.
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In case anyone wanted an update on the municipalization hearing in Minneapolis today, I was there and pleasantly surprised to not only hear 32 people speak in opposition to the motion contra 21 in favor - two of whom were flown in from out of state by Minneapolis Energy Options, the special interest group behind this idiotic venture, and 5 who signed up to speak well into the hearing as it became apparent how badly they were getting pwnt, I witnessed a most miraculous event: labor unions and management standing side-by-side in denouncing this insanity.
For more hilarity, the original proposal would put the ballot initiative on the November ballot while the $250,000 feasibility study won't be out until February. The cherry on top was when one of the MEO losers insisted we all stand and shake hands as a sign of how much we trusted each other.
Because trustworthy people need to do that.
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"this preliminary analysis suggests that a ban of private firearm possession, or possibly a partial reduction in gun availability, might lower the rate of firearm-induced homicides."
Only if you can train policemen to distinguish between cellphones, teevee remotes, teacups, and lethal weapons.
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Here's the title:
Activist bravely details sexual assault that occurred at skeptics conference
And here's the story:
The incident occurred at a suite party during the James Randi Educational Foundation’s annual The Amaz!ng Meeting last year. Paramore said that a former friend — who she referred to only as “Jim Bob” — was chatting with her when he got “touchy” and eventually put his hand up her skirt. Paramore repeatedly moved away to prevent “Jim Bob” from grabbing her buttocks.
Later when Paramore was sitting on a bed, “Jim Bob” unexpectedly pushed her down and again put his hand up her skirt. She repeatedly told him to stop and he complied. “Jim Bob” asked if Paramore wanted to come back to his room, an offer which was declined, and then insisted he act like a “gentleman” by escorting her back to her hotel room.
Paramore agreed to let “Jim Bob” walk her back to her room, but she quickly realized this was an accident. She managed to ditch “Jim Bob” when he wasn’t looking.And the horrible way she was treated:
Paramore reported the incident to the James Randi Educational Foundation, which she said handled the situation well.
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Paramore was sexually assaulted? I hope Haley Williams is okay.
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Wow, if she had slapped the shit out of him when he put his hand up her skirt she could have solved the problem immediately.
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Thank goodness she became skeptical of his offer to "act like a gentleman".
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I thought this was more about the hand-wringing shitstorm over the woman who felt "threatened" in an elevator due to a ham-handed move by some witless clod.
That entire episode made me want that community to eat itself.
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Then you'll love my link below.
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The presence of the bed in this tale of woe confuses me. Whose room were they in, did they go to this room with a bed before or after the first time he got all handsy, or what?
Because if he tried to grab her ass, and then she went to his room with him, I can understand his confusion about her intentions.
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Victim. Blamer.
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Hotel room party.
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Which is most libertarian: Portugal, Czech Republic, or No Korea?
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The act of exchanging money for sex has never been illegal in Canada, however many of the country’s laws, such as prohibiting the offering of such services, make it almost impossible for a prostitute to work legally. ‘Bawdy Houses’ are illegal but generally tolerated.
So why is it number 1 over countries where it is legal?
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I also like that they put North Korea as 3rd most libertarian on drug issues because pot is legal even though "Drug abusers in North Korea “will face a firing squad” according to of a recently-launched government campaign in Pyongyang."
Pot's legal, but they'll shoot you for doing any other drugs. FREEDOM!
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Well libertarians, especially of the Reason variety, are obsessed with pot legalization...
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Jezebel is pretty reasonable when it comes to college girls partying
I admit that as I read the piece — which, by the way, is one of the least stupid examinations of college women's behavior I've ever seen in a major mainstream publication and was written by a college student — I felt a sort of nagging annoyance at the students the author described. Ugh, the jackasses making loud noises at the bar at 2 am. Ugh, girls falling over their teetering heels when they try to pee in an alley. Ugh, these kids with their fun and their hookups and their Instagrams and their youth phrases I don't understand. If I had a lawn, I'd want them off it.
But that's another side of equality, right? Equal opportunity for women to succeed means equal opportunities to act like liver-shredding idiots. And as long as Tiger Inn types aren't hurting anyone or barfing on my front steps at 3 am, who am I — or anyone— to condemn them as anything besides run-of-the-mill obnoxious college kids? Who am I to dictate what must or must not make them happy? Who am I to project my own social conditioning onto them? Besides, the women of the Tiger Inn too busy licking food items off each others' bodies to give a shit about the opinion of a woman whose ideal Friday night involves tacos, Breaking Bad, and falling asleep before most of them have even hit the bars.
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She's not checking her privilege hard enough, obviously.
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"The National Security Agency has admitted it is, indeed, scooping up phone records of millions of Americans. But that power could never, ever be abused!"
I don't care if it's never abused; A-4, dammit.
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New York woman visited by police after researching pressure cookers online
Long Island resident said her web search history and 'trying to learn how to cook lentils' prompted a visit from authorities -
It was unclear on Thursday precisely who had visited Catalano.
Sorry, the true identity of "the joint terrorism task force" is classified.
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That's horrible. Why hasn't Reason written anything about this yet?
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Probably because the story is kind of bogus:
I sort of suspected it would turn out to be something like this when I first heard of the story--it just seemed to conform to the biases of the anti-surveillance crowd (myself included) way too perfectly to actually have gone down the way it was presented.
It's kind of similar to that HuffPo story about the bogus "study" about employee pay at McDonald's the other day--a lot of people just seized on a hot story that seemed to totally confirm everything they'd always expected, and didn't take the time to sit back and think, "Hmm, does this even make sense?"
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"Dependence of the Firearm-Related Homicide Rate on Gun Availability: A Mathematical Analysis,"
In other news, people who die as a result of grizzly bear attacks were killed by grizzly bears!
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The legal-positivist, das Gesetz ist das Gesetz crowd comes out to defend the Justice Department honoring slave-catchers per the earlier Reason post:
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Sometimes your enemies just hand you your victories.
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Who am I to dictate what must or must not make them happy?
That's crazy talk!
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Mexican cartels reportedly hiring former US soldiers as hit men and enforcers
Mexican cartels are recruiting hit men from the U.S. military, offering big money to highly-trained soldiers to carry out contract killings and potentially share their skills with gangsters south of the border, according to law enforcement experts.
The involvement of three American soldiers in separate incidents, including a 2009 murder that led to last week’s life sentence for a former Army private, underscore a problem the U.S. military has fought hard to address.
"We have seen examples over the past few years where American servicemen are becoming involved in this type of activity," said Fred Burton, vice president for STRATFOR Global Intelligence. "It is quite worrisome to have individuals with specialized military training and combat experience being associated with the cartels."Mexican labor unions representing Mexico's hitmen also objected to the outsourcing of Mexican jobs.
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Jobs Mexicans won't do!
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Well as Rep. Steve King pointed out, most of them are mule boys running drugs across the border.
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So I was watching one of those ridiculous car rebuild shows. The project? a '68 Mustang. Like in Bullit, they all say!
So this show is US based, in Cali somewhere. and the guys have trouble sourcing parts.
Meanwhile, there was a show not a week earlier, from the UK, where they are rebuilding also the '68 Mustang!
This Brit walks into a store and gets everything he needs off the shelf.What did I miss?
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The UK is libertopia. I'm sure IRA members aren't arrested for having guns or drugs either.
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Portugal #1. I didn't feel like I was in libertarian paradise, no orphans in the street I could get to polish my monocles for a bent nickel, but the Lisbon trip was one of my better ones.
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was it full of Lisbians?
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Incredibly beautiful Lisbians. I wondered while I was walking around, 'does the rest of the world know about this place?'
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Portugese women get hairy fast when they reach a certain age.
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As long as it is not between the eyebrows, I am okay with that.
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Suggest a new form of kinky play, tie her to the bed, trim appropriately. You have to really sell that it's getting you off, though.
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Though seriously, I saw nothing but good grooming on display.
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12?
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So Bolivia is libertopia? Age of consent is reaching puberty.
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Depends on what kind of parts they are after.
After-market/third-party parts are not that hard to get. For a full-blown restoration, though, you need original Ford parts. Much harder.
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Bourbons, whiskeys, and ryes! Looking for recommendations, and I always think of you all as a bunch of lovable drunks. Well, drunks anyway.
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Knob Creek.
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I'm partial to Buffalo Trace. Not so expensive I want to save it for a special occasion, no so cheap I'd use it to clean paint brushes.
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I did the whiskey trail tour last year, and got a peak taste of the artisanal stuff they are rolling out this year --
http://kybourbontrail.com/bour.....xpereince/
Surprisingly good, as I've always thought of EW as a better mixer than sipper.
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Rittenhouse Rye
The 100 proof. It makes a great sazarac and is good to drink neat as well. -
I also really like the Maker's Mark 46.
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In my area, Bullet is the cheapest of the mid-range whiskeys. Blanton's is not cheap but is delicious.
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Four Roses single barrel is my preferred everyday drinkin bourbon, these days.
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That was on the tour and I bought a bottle. Very good.
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Eagle Rare
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Bad porn titles:
22 Year old MILF
Lesbian Cum Guzzlers -
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Dick Loving Bi-Babes
Title still stands out twenty years after renting it.
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Always loved the title Pulp Friction
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Ultra Kinky #79: Bowlin' In Her Colon.
What else ya got?
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Well, untitled, but there is that one of two Guantanamo inmates forced to DP a goat. Terrible directing, but the fact they misunderstood the directions they were being given gave it just that extra bit of horror to take it over the top.
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If SugarFree had written the script, the film would have won the Cthulhu Adult Video Awards.
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Those two guys shaking nervously, almost petrified, but still managing to hoist the goat up and then down on their dicks together. Oh, my god, how does that not take the prize?
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Girls Will Be Boys.
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British government declassifies speech Queen Elizabeth was to record in the event of WWIII breaking out during the 1980s and other documents
Among the other pieces of history released from the archives on Thursday were:
Margaret Thatcher blocked a 21-year-old William Hague from a potential job as a Treasury adviser, saying his appointment would be a "gimmick" and could prove "an embarrassment"
The then British PM secretly wanted the Army to move coal around the UK in the event of a miners' strike
Government officials considered deliberately flooding Essex and Kent to prevent London being swamped by a tidal surge as it waited for the Thames Barrier to be completed
The UK sent a laser weapon designed to "dazzle" Argentine pilots during the Falklands war
A senior government official had urged Mrs Thatcher to seek out a fertile female panda for London Zoo before a visit to China in 1982. -
"The script, which starts off by referring to the Queen's traditional Christmas address, reads: "The horrors of war could not have seemed more remote as my family and I shared our Christmas joy with the growing family of the Commonwealth.
"Now, this madness of war is once more spreading through the world and our brave country must again prepare itself to survive against great odds.
"I have never forgotten the sorrow and the pride I felt as my sister and I huddled around the nursery wireless set listening to my father's [George VI's] inspiring words on that fateful day in 1939 [at the start of the World War II].
"Not for a single moment did I imagine that this solemn and awful duty would one day fall to me.
"But whatever terrors lie in wait for us all, the qualities that have helped to keep our freedom intact twice already during this sad century will once more be our strength."
Striking a personal note, the script continues: "My husband and I share with families up and down the land the fear we feel for sons and daughters, husbands and brothers who have left our side to serve their country.
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"My beloved son Andrew is at this moment in action with his unit and we pray continually for his safety and for the safety of all servicemen and women at home and overseas.
"It is this close bond of family life that must be our greatest defence against the unknown.
"If families remain united and resolute, giving shelter to those living alone and unprotected, our country's will to survive cannot be broken."
The speech concludes by saying the Queen's message to the nation was "simple".
'New evil'It adds: "As we strive together to fight off the new evil, let us pray for our country and men of goodwill wherever they may be. God Bless you all."
Oh, and We are sorry to note that women and minorities will be hardest hit.
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In contrast, the documents present then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in a less-than-flattering light, saying the Liberal leader a “complex personality” that combines “great charm with brutal insensitivity.”
The officials go on to write that Trudeau had a “tendency to flirt with the Kremlin and with Fidel Castro,” acknowledging this was not a sign of “any real sympathy with Communism.”
The secret documents acknowledge that Canada and the U.K. had been through a “dangerous passage” in their relationship two years earlier, following Trudeau’s decision to patriate the Constitution.
The officials advised Thatcher part of the purpose of her visit was to help assuage Canada’s concerns that by turning to Europe, Britain was not turning “its back on Canada and the old Commonwealth.”
Rather, officials point out that Britain could instead be a “potentially attractive alternative trading partner and political counterweight to American influence,” as Canada fought to assert its independenc -
“tendency to flirt with the Kremlin and with Fidel Castro,”
What a hero of liberty!
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The Rolling Stones finest moment was when they did his wife.
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In contrast, the documents present then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in a less-than-flattering light, saying the Liberal leader a “complex personality” that combines “great charm with brutal insensitivity.”
So in other words, a sociopath.
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Like all Great Men/politicians?
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The UK sent a laser weapon designed to "dazzle" Argentine pilots during the Falklands war
Diamonds Are Forever is a documentary I see.
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I just had a mental image of an Argentine fighter plane landing back at base, covered in sequins.
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It is being described as pure intimidation, with the threat that any unauthorized CIA employee who leaks information could face the end of his or her career.
In exclusive communications obtained by CNN, one insider writes, "You don't jeopardize yourself, you jeopardize your family as well."
Another says, "You have no idea the amount of pressure being brought to bear on anyone with knowledge of this operation."
"Agency employees typically are polygraphed every three to four years. Never more than that," said former CIA operative and CNN analyst Robert Baer.
In other words, the rate of the kind of polygraphs alleged by sources is rare.PHONY SCANDAL!
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OMERTA!
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Wahoo!! Schwyzer quit blogging cause his feelings were hurt.
What precipitated your exit?
I dealt with depression and alcoholism for many years; I’ve written about this many times. I’ve been fifteen years sober, but a lot of the depression came from being online. When I’ve been taken down, there’s virtually nothing in my defense, and anyone who does come to my defense gets slapped down. Google me. Here, I’ll do it ...
Don’t do it!
I stupidly did it.This can happen when you spout bullshit. I wish it happened more often.
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It will also happen when you're a male feminist that is on record as saying that you almost murdered a woman, have slept with a bunch of students, and cheated on your wife with a woman 18 years your junior.
Anyone who normally wouldn't hate you because of the far left feminist stupidity will despise you because of how horribly you treat women. Schwyzer is such scum that even the raving harpies at Jezebel can't stand him.
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What are you going to do now?
Work on getting mentally healthy. I need to get my meds right. Second, I need to get my marriage right. There’s some bad shit that went down. I had an affair, which is very off-brand for me.
Off-brand ... as in out of character?
In that I’m supposed to be reformed. The affair was with someone in the same circles that you and I move in, so I have to protect her. But there’s a lot of gossiping. It may reach you. Don’t be surprised.Think he put the spurs to Lindy?
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I saw an article about this earlier where someone speculated about who the person he was cheating with might be. Apparently he got caught sexting some 27 year old sex worker. That's probably who he cheated with.
Not that it matters. That's about the 40th sketchiest thing Schwyzer's done.
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I'm disappointed. That was prime territory for a flour joke.
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Now that he's out, he finally says something rational:
Affair, history, and poster-child status aside: Do you think a man’s personal life should permanently disqualify him from writing on a topic or participating in a social movement?
Should I be leading a private rape survivor group? Absolutely not. But we’re talking about the Internet. There’s this false notion in feminism that the Internet is supposed to be a safe space. There’s this confusion of the therapeutic and the public space. Is the Internet a safe space? No. Your therapist’s office is a safe space. Your local women’s center is a safe space. I do believe I can have a voice online in leading a movement about this, but that distinction has to be drawn. -
I know some of you here also read FTB for lulz. Check this shit out.
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::blinks:: What was that I just read?
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PZ meyers and others in fish form.
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Yeah, I caught that, but I'm not up enough on the culture there to have context. FTB?
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"free thought blogs" Where double-think reigns.
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Free Thought Blogs
The "skeptic community" has been having a lot of infighting over social justice issues. A lot of the SJW-types congregate around Free Thought Blogs, most significantly PZ Meyers, who is a dick.
tl;dr it really doesn't matter
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If you want to know more about this pointless shit...
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Ah, got it, thanks.
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::blinks:: What was that I just read?
Fabulous.....
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I'm enjoying this too much.
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Yeah I was thinking of pointing out that one too.
"And if you still disagree with me because you happen to be right you just have to SHUT THE FUCK UP"
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Three Avatar sequels are coming!
http://www.deadline.com/2013/0.....r-sequels/Um I'm not sure if there is much story to tell. The Aussie is a blue alien person and the Evil Colonel is dead. I guess Ribisi will come back and try to kill everybody before getting his ass kicked by the Blue People?
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This is going to kill all those people just getting over the fact that they can never visit that world.
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Three Avatar sequels are coming!
Yeah....I just took my kid to see Smurfs II.......the two stories hardly mesh at all!
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Thats not enough, Off with his head!Q
